Book Anatomy · Great Expectations
Great Expectations: Prose style
17 lenses on prose style for Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. Count lenses are exact for our text. AI lenses are our reading and cite only quotes that passed a word for word check.
Jump to: H1 H2 H3 H4 H5 H6 H7 H8 H9 H10 H11 H12 H13 H14 H15 H16 H17
H1. Readability score per chapter. Count
Flesch reading ease for the whole book is about 73 (higher is easier; 60 to 70 is plain English).
Reading ease per chapter, chapter by chapter
H2. Vocabulary range. Count
10,923 different words. On average 48 in every 100 words are new within a 500 word stretch. 4,670 words appear only once.
H3. Signature words: what this author uses far more than others. Count
herbert, pocket, marshes, forge, aged. See the full lens on the book page.
H4. Adverb and adjective rates. Count
About 11.31 words ending in 'ly' and 7.82 likely adjectives per 1,000 words. (rough estimate from word lists)
'ly' words per 1,000, chapter by chapter
H5. Share of weak verbs such as "was" and "had". Count
'Was', 'were', 'had', 'is' and 'are' make up 3.6% of all words.
H6. Passive voice rate. Count
About 6.6% of sentences use a passive form such as 'was taken'. (rough estimate from word lists)
H7. Variety of sentence openings. Count
The five most common first words start 27% of sentences: i, the, and, it, he.
| First word | Sentences |
|---|---|
| i | 1348 |
| the | 363 |
| and | 351 |
| it | 339 |
| he | 316 |
| but | 297 |
| you | 266 |
| jaggers | 199 |
| when | 183 |
| as | 171 |
H8. Rhythm: how much sentence length varies. Count
Sentence length varies by 0.83 of its mean on average (higher means a more varied rhythm).
Variation per chapter, chapter by chapter
H9. Similes and metaphors: how many, and of what kind. Both
257 likely similes ('like a', 'as ... as'): 1.38 per 1,000 words. (rough estimate from word lists)
Ch 1, para 27: After darkly looking at his leg and me several times, he came closer to my tombstone, took me by both arms, and tilted me back as far as …
Ch 1, para 44: When he came to the low church wall, he got over it, like a man whose legs were numbed and stiff, and then turned round to look for …
Ch 1, para 45: The marshes were just a long black horizontal line then, as I stopped to look after him; and the river was just another horizontal line, not nearly so …
Ch 2, para 1: My sister, Mrs. Joe Gargery, was more than twenty years older than I, and had established a great reputation with herself and the neighbours because she had brought …
Ch 2, para 26: Joe was evidently made uncomfortable by what he supposed to be my loss of appetite, and took a thoughtful bite out of his slice, which he didn’t seem …
Ch 2, para 39: Some medical beast had revived Tar-water in those days as a fine medicine, and Mrs. Joe always kept a supply of it in the cupboard; having a belief …
Dickens uses abundant similes and metaphors, often comparing human states to natural phenomena (mist obscuring truth, decay symbolising emotional death) and objects (chains representing bondage). Comparisons are vivid and sustained rather than brief.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 8, Ch 11, Ch 39, Ch 49, Ch 54
It was a rimy morning, and very damp. I had seen the damp lying on the outside of my little window, as if some goblin had been crying there all night, and using the window for a pocket-handkerchief. (Ch 3, para 1)
I saw that the bride within the bridal dress had withered like the dress, and like the flowers, and had no brightness left but the brightness of her sunken eyes. (Ch 8, para 33)
Like the clock in Miss Havisham’s room, and like Miss Havisham’s watch, it had stopped at twenty minutes to nine. (Ch 11, para 2)
H10. Senses used: sight, sound, smell, touch, taste. Both
Share of sense words. sight 67%, sound 15%, touch 15%, taste 2%, smell 1%. (rough estimate from word lists)
| Sense | Words |
|---|---|
| sight | 1672 |
| sound | 381 |
| touch | 365 |
| taste | 52 |
| smell | 20 |
All five senses appear throughout. Sight dominates (Estella's beauty, Miss Havisham's decay). Sound marks tension (Joe's awkwardness, Magwitch's rough speech). Touch conveys shame and fear. Smell and taste are sparse but precise (dust, decay).
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 8, Ch 11, Ch 20, Ch 39, Ch 54
Hold your noise!” cried a terrible voice, as a man started up from among the graves at the side of the church porch. (Ch 1, para 4)
She was dressed in rich materials,—satins, and lace, and silks,—all of white. (Ch 8, para 32)
I saw that the bride within the bridal dress had withered like the dress, and like the flowers, and had no brightness left but the brightness of her sunken eyes. (Ch 8, para 33)
H11. Repetition, lists of three and other patterns. Both
155 lists of three in the pattern 'a, b and c': 0.83 per 1,000 words. (rough estimate from word lists)
Repetition anchors key ideas: 'in jail and out of jail' (Magwitch's cycle), 'waited, waited, waited' (suspense), 'break their hearts' (Miss Havisham's revenge). Lists of three appear in descriptions of decay and moral states. Patterns reinforce theme.
Chapters: Ch 11, Ch 27, Ch 42, Ch 47, Ch 49
Like the clock in Miss Havisham’s room, and like Miss Havisham’s watch, it had stopped at twenty minutes to nine. (Ch 11, para 2)
On this day of the year, long before you were born, this heap of decay,” stabbing with her crutched stick at the pile of cobwebs on the table, but not touching it, “was brought here. (Ch 11, para 99)
Break their hearts my pride and hope, break their hearts and have no mercy! (Ch 12, para 6)
H12. Old words that may trip modern readers. Count
Old forms that may trip a modern reader: betwixt, art, nay, wherefore, whence, thither.
| Word | Times |
|---|---|
| betwixt | 17 |
| art | 2 |
| nay | 1 |
| wherefore | 1 |
| whence | 1 |
| thither | 1 |
| twas | 1 |
| thou | 1 |
H13. Showing against telling, with examples. AI
Dickens shows character through action and dialogue more than summary. Pip's shame emerges through his treatment of Joe (chapters 13 to 14) rather than direct statement. Miss Havisham's cruelty is revealed through her whispered words to Estella, not explanation.
Chapters: Ch 8, Ch 12, Ch 13, Ch 27, Ch 38, Ch 44
Well? You can break his heart. (Ch 8, para 61)
Break their hearts my pride and hope, break their hearts and have no mercy! (Ch 12, para 6)
it was not for me to tell him that he looked far better in his working-dress (Ch 13, para 1)
H14. How much description comes before action. Both
Description often precedes action, especially in establishing mood. The marshes, Miss Havisham's house, and London are described before events unfold there. This creates atmosphere that shapes how readers receive subsequent action.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 8, Ch 20, Ch 21, Ch 25
It was a rimy morning, and very damp. I had seen the damp lying on the outside of my little window, as if some goblin had been crying there all night, and using the window for a pocket-handkerchief. (Ch 3, para 1)
She was dressed in rich materials,—satins, and lace, and silks,—all of white. (Ch 8, para 32)
I saw that the bride within the bridal dress had withered like the dress, and like the flowers, and had no brightness left but the brightness of her sunken eyes. (Ch 8, para 33)
H15. Filter words such as "saw", "felt", "heard". Count
Filter words ('saw', 'felt', 'heard' and so on): 5.88 per 1,000 words.
| Word | Times |
|---|---|
| saw | 250 |
| thought | 238 |
| knew | 173 |
| seemed | 142 |
| felt | 134 |
| heard | 112 |
| noticed | 20 |
| watched | 14 |
| wondered | 13 |
| realised | 1 |
H16. Shifts in tone. AI
Tone shifts from fearful and childlike (chapters 1 to 6) to ambitious and ashamed (chapters 12 to 19) to horrified and obligated (chapters 39 to 42) to humble and reconciled (chapters 57 to 59). Each shift marks Pip's moral state.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 12, Ch 19, Ch 39, Ch 41, Ch 57
Since that time, which is far enough away now, I have often thought that few people know what secrecy there is in the young under terror. (Ch 2, para 61)
It is a most miserable thing to feel ashamed of home. (Ch 14, para 1)
I loved her against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness, against all discouragement that could be (Ch 29, para 2)
H17. How the comedy works. AI
Comedy arises from social pretension (Pumblechook's obsequiousness, Trabb's boy's mockery), character contradiction (Mr. Pocket's helplessness, Wemmick's dual life), and Pip's naive misreadings. Humour undercuts rather than relieves tension.
Chapters: Ch 9, Ch 15, Ch 23, Ch 25, Ch 31, Ch 35
For, I really am not,” he added, with his son’s smile, “an alarming personage. (Ch 23, para 1)
He laid down the carving-knife and fork,—being engaged in carving, at the moment,—put his two hands into his disturbed hair, and appeared to make an extraordinary effort to lift himself up by it. (Ch 23, para 14)
the office is one thing, and private life is another. When I go into the office, I leave the Castle behind me, and when I come into the Castle, I leave the office behind me (Ch 25, para 49)
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